A bike lane on your handlebars

A design student has created a handlebar-mounted laser that projects a personal bike lane.

Blaze projects a bright green laser image of a bike onto the road ahead and was developed by Emily Brooke of the University of Brighton. Her creation - yet to be commercialised - is similar to the Light Lane, a US design project which went viral in 2009, but which never made it into production.

Brooke’s idea has won her a place on an Entrepreneurship Programme at a prestigious college in the US. She's currently a final-year product design student.

She said: “I wanted to tackle the issue of safety of cyclists on city streets by increasing the visibility, footprint, and ultimately the awareness of the bicycle.

“Eighty per cent of cycle accidents occur when bicycles travel straight ahead and a vehicle manoeuvres into them. The most common contributory factor is ‘failed to look properly’ on the part of the motorist.”

The battery-powered Blaze would emit a green light, visible in daylight:

“With Blaze, you see the bike before the cyclist," said Brooke.

For her project she consulted with road safety practitioners, Brighton & Hove City Council, the Brighton & Hove Bus Company and psychologists specialising in driving.

She will work on developing the product during her year at Babson College in Massachusetts.

Blaze will be on show along with other final-year student inventions at an exhibition in the Creativity Suite at the university’s Moulsecoomb campus on Friday evening, and during office hours at the same venue on 4th and 6th June.

In 2009, young US designers Alex Tee and Evan Gant created the LightLane, which projected an image behind and to the side of the cyclist.

BikeBiz Job of the Week

BikeBiz has a commitment to retail that goes beyond just ensuring that every store receives the magazine every month. The editorial team prides itself on its coverage of retail - from debating issues to providing information that will aid sales.